Bill Morrison

The true history of a collection of some 500 films dating from 1910s to 1920s, which were lost for over 50 years until being discovered buried in a sub-arctic swimming pool deep in the Yukon Territory, in Dawson City, located about 350 miles south of the Arctic Circle.

Chicago, 2018. A man is killed by police on the street. Through a composite montage of images from surveillance and security footage as well as police body-cams, Incident recreates the event and its consequences, featuring vain justifications, altercations and attempts to avoid blame. Bill Morrison delivers a chilling political investigation in search of the truth.

Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Iceland, July 9, 2016. The surprising discovery of a canister —containing four reels of The Village Detective (Деревенский детектив), a 1969 Soviet film—, caught in the nets of an Icelandic trawler, is the first step in a fascinating journey through the artistic life of film and stage actor Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov (1899-1981), icon and star of an entire era of Russian cinema.

A meditation on the human quest to transcend physicality, constructed from decaying archival footage and set to an original symphonic score.

Originally planned as part of Michael Kanieckis play, «Howard Hughes: The World Is Round», the film follows the internal monologue of billionaire Hughes as he navigates between Earth and The Screening Room. James Godwin is featured in the voice-over. The performance was presented at The Kitchen, NYC, March 1994.

A collection of films from an eclectic array of contributors commissioned to raise funds for the Bristol independent cinema The Cube.

Alan is a musician who leaves a busted-up band for New York, and a new musical voyage. He tries to stay focused and fends off all manner of distractions, including the attraction to his good friend's girlfriend.

The 1st Volume of Characters in Motion introduces a new wealth of cutting edge character visuals to the established world of animation. The DVD compiles over 90 stylistically outstanding films by 60 international studios, artists and designers in curated programs such as Characters in Narration, Characters in Rhythm and Characters in Motion. Additionally, a special selection menu allows to sort the 180+ minutes of animation by creator, character or style.

Based on the story of Howard Walls, A clerk at the Library of Congress who saved a collection of early paper reel films from the incinerator, director Bill Morrison embellishes the tale a bit in this inspired short work. Here, the vision of a woman in an early porno film has been engrained in the mind of a man working at the Library of Congress and his search for the film of her has an unexpected consequence, as he saves a collection of historically significant films from being destroyed.

A short film made during lockdown.

October 12, 2025: masked and unidentified agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seize a man without a warrant on a residential street in Chicago. After the Oscar-nominated Incident (VdR 2023), Bill Morrison uses footage from phones and body cameras to dissect and reconstruct a neighbourhood’s struggle against impunity within a brutal administration.

Made by re-editing a deteriorated nitrate print of The Bells (1926), starring Lionel Barrymore and Boris Karloff, this work shows the fragility of the film image while foreshadowing the Holocaust.

a serene and endearing cat-cam video, made during lockdown and scored by Bill Frisell.

A city symphony inspired by New York

With darker, Bill Morrison takes inspiration from David Lang’s restrained and highly detailed score to create what he describes as a slowly lilting depiction of the sublime, in which actors, dancers, and acrobats reappear and disappear back into a bubbling morass of time. Morrison’s films often incorporate imagery from decomposing nitrate films, creating a haunting photochemical effect.

Early Bill Morrison film from 1992, black & white, 16mm.

Bill Morrison’s experimental short features decayed film reels from the lost, German silent film Pawns of Passion (1928).

Little Orphant Annie is a re-edit of a silent film of the same title from 1918, directed by Colin Campbell. Two reels from an original nitrate print were scanned and re-edited to make the new film, which follows the structure of the poem written by James Whitcomb Riley in 1885. Riley is heard reciting his poem in a recording made in 1912. The poem is also heard read by Kelli Shay Hix in 2016, who additionally wrote and performs the song, “The Swimmer.”

An early Bill Morrison short, in this work he traverses an urban landscape utilizing high contrast black and white footage. The bustling nature of the setting is complimented by the energetic music by Michael Gordon.

A woman attends a party where she is observed by and finally meets a mysterious guest.

Original Super 8 footage shot by Dr. Oliver Sacks of his patients at Beth Abraham Hospital, Bronx, NY, who were administered the drug L-Dopa in the summer of 1969 and “awakened” after decades of inactivity is featured in this cine-poem that combines archival footage with a score for solo saxophone composed by Philip Glass.

A response in music and film to the conflict that launched a century of war, and a celebration of the power of art to keep us sane and offer us comfort. Beyond Zero: 1914-1918 brings together three of the world's most pioneering artists: the Kronos Quartet, known for decades for their trailblazing performances and collaborations; acclaimed Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov; and filmmaker Bill Morrison, respected for his work with rare and even partially destroyed archive images.

A self-explanatory film by Bill Morrison, with music by Michael Gordon, performed by the Young People’s Chorus of New York City.

A scene from The Bells (1926) is optically reprinted and edited to Michael Gordon's 7 minute composition. A meditation on the fleeting nature of life and love, as seen through the roiling emulsion of a film.